Oblivion's Edge
by Idrelle Miocovani
Summary: The world of Enroth is gone, but its heroes live on - Catherine, Gelu, Xeron, Roland and the events of the Restoration War and the Demon Wars are remembered by those who still seek them in myth and legend. Heroes II/III/IV.
1. Song of the Queen

**A/N:** I'm currently experimenting with a style of writing called a "50 Sentences" challenge – you are given a table of fifty prompts and have to write _one_ sentence to go with each prompt. Naturally, sometimes the grammar gets a bit flimsy, but it's a fun exercise. For 2011, I am writing a series of 50 Sentences challenges (four per month – or, if I miss a month, it will be covered elsewhere) covering many different fandoms and characters. Since I couldn't find a decent category to put the series in (this really isn't a crossover, so the crossover options are out), I am posting each entry separately in its own fandom. This is the tenth through thirteenth ficlets in the series – I'm doing something a little different and combining the four March tables (which I missed during March) into one fandom and making an overarching story or character exploration.

If you'd like to keep track of the series, there's an index in my profile listing the titles and fandoms of them all.

Thanks for reading!

* * *

><p><strong>OBLIVION'S EDGE<strong>

_Chronicles of Palaedra, Axeoth, 1267 AS. I have taken upon myself the duties of chronicling the legends and folklore of the world once known as Enroth, the land from which our ancestors fled during the Reckoning. Of particular note and interest are the heroes – the kings and queens, the soldiers and the warriors who did performed great deeds and were far greater than the sum of their parts, in the eyes of their people._

_Where shall we begin? Is it possible to chronicle the entire history of a world, a world now destroyed and forgotten in the twisting paths of history? These heroes, these men and women, had once lived, breathed the same air as our ancestors, walked the same mountains and forests. _

_My own interests lie in the legendary Gryphonheart family of Erathia. The conquerors of that particular land on the continent Antagarich, they became known as wise and kind rulers. The downfall of King Gryphonheart is a myth still told today to those who are wary of the cleverness of necromancers. But it is Gryphonheart's daughter, Catherine Ironfist – once a Captain of Erathia, then Queen of the neighbouring Enroth – who interests me. Flame-haired and spirited, she single-handedly restored her father's kingdom from her enemies. _

_It is with Catherine and the Restoration of Erathia that we shall begin our tale._

* * *

><p><strong>Song of the Queen<strong>

**1. Firefly**

Nicolai set a lamp in his window and watched the flickering flame, his practical side telling him it did no use, but his heart hoping his mother would see it when she sailed home.

**2. Grit**

When Catherine stepped foot on the blood-soaked, barren land of her country, she knew she would not live the pampered life of a royal for the many long months ahead.

**3. Crew**

The Commander bowed as he took his instructions from the queen herself – his role as the army's scout was an honoured one, but would likely get him and his men killed.

**4. Lure**

Sandro rolled the die with a skeletal hand and let it drop to the board: though he had been imprisoned by his own puppet-king, the plan had been set in motion and the alliance between Deyja, Nighon and Eeoful had been struck – Erathia would suffer greatly and he would watch gleefully from his prison as the humans were ensnared into the trap that would destroy them.

**5. Tenacity**

The servant ducked as General Kendal flung his goblet across the room – the most recent report of armies from Eeoful and Nighon steadily eating up Steadwick's backyard did not improve his already taxed mood.

**6. Affinity**

Duke Winston Boragus licked his fingers free of his dinner while studying the map – taking advantage of Erathia's dire situation was far, far too tempting.

**7. Heist**

Haart considered himself a crafty man – he had, after all, hidden his necromantic allegiances from the greatest king in Antagarich – but even he had to bow to the skill which Sandro played the long game.

**8. Renegade**

_I should be grateful, _Nimbus thought as King Vilmar placed the Spirit of Oppression above Gryphonheart's corpse, _but this act is sacrilege to our kind – the Erathian King banished us in life, he should not deserve this honour in death. _

**9. Stable**

The Commander could not say where his Queen's inner strength came from – she had already lost her husband to the Eeoful hordes two years previous, and now the very life of her country was threatened, but she continued to fight with a steady hand and a clear mind.

**10. Poise**

The druid's graceful smile never left her face as she surveyed the remnants of the two armies; raising her arms aloft, she twisted her wrist and ice exploded in the centre of the battlefield, impaling her remaining enemies.

**11. Shepherd**

Even with hordes of Nighon and Eeoful monsters snapping at their heels, stranger helped stranger as refugees of all classes fled Steadwick.

**12. Haven**

Catherine longed for sleep – her unconscious mind was her only escape from the destruction around her, but how long would it be until her placid dreams became nightmares?

**13. Pioneer**

In its long and illustrious history, Steadwick had never fallen – and it was Sandro who had the distinguished honour of setting its doom in motion.

**14. Aptitude**

Though it was stereotypical the world over to say elves were the greatest archers, it was the truth, and now Catherine desperately pleaded for AvLee's long bowed aid.

**15. Black**

When Erathia burned, impenetrable darkness flooded across the Deyjan border, blocking out the sun for good.

**16. Fixed**

"Steadwick is a loss I cannot suffer," Catherine shouted, one hand gripping her sword handle, "and I will not stop until my city is liberated or the Nighon Overlords slay me themselves!"

**17. Backbone**

Other kingdoms required time and effort to train many troops, but Deyja took what others gave them – death was inevitable to all, and the Necromancers always profited.

**18. Cunning**

Wisdom often proved itself over brute force, but when Gryphonheart woke to his undead body, all he could do was scream and thirst for blood – and Finneas Vilmar was the first to receive the force of his undead wrath.

**19. Shotgun**

The black dragon reared on its hind-legs and collapsed, felled by an Erathian arrow through its eye – moments later, the earth trembled and part of Steadwick's wall collapsed with a bang.

**20. Aplomb**

As Catherine walked the ghostly halls of her childhood home, she held her head high, refusing to shed tears for her broken homeland.

**21. Pester**

Dorell was plagued by demon scouts all the way from AvLee to Steadwick, their fiery magic and sulphuric stench snapping at his heels at every turn, but the news of King Roland's supposed location was too great to fail deliverance.

**22. Alliance**

"I thank you for your assistance in our time of need, friends," the Queen said, bowing her head to the wizard and elf who stood in her court.

**23. Uncouth**

"Those bastards!" Catherine snarled when she discovered her father had been purposefully poisoned – a greater plot was a hand, but she could not see who pulled the strings.

**24. Regard**

After she spoke to Dorell and considered his message, Catherine went cold as she made her decision – all these years of waiting, of forcing herself to believe Roland was still alive, and now she had to treat his captivity in Kleesive as a Kreegan plot… she could not risk rescuing him herself.

**25. Fugitive**

With a heavy, unbeating heart, Nimbus fled Deyja and turned his eyes towards Erathia – the Necromancer's last hope for peace from the mad Lich king who now sat upon the throne.

**26. Chipper**

The combined Erathian, AvLee and Bracada forces cut into Nighon's retreating back, slicing numbers off the underworlders' army in a glorious day of victory.

**27. Intuitive**

Though Steadwick was reclaimed, Catherine could not sit upon her father's throne until she knew he rested in peace.

**28. Fixing**

There was no rest for the weary as undead forces swarmed the north-western border and Catherine turned her attention to the next leg of this prolonged war.

**29. Uncanny**

There were whispers throughout the camp how the Queen must have been possessed by some powerful magic or blessing – slowly, but surely, the impossible war was being turned around.

**30. Outcast**

It had never fully sunk in that with the death of her father, she was Queen of two countries and a stranger in both.

**31. Rave**

Gryphonheart's undead form sat upon the Deyjan throne, giggling with mad pleasure as his fingers summoned an inferno to blast the bones of his errant Death Knights to hellish oblivion.

**32. Shindig**

Catherine had not chosen to marry Roland – her father had arranged the marriage to convince her to give up her militaristic life – but now she loved him more than ever, despite his long absence… if she survived this war, she owed it to him and their son to march to Eeoful and wrest him from the Kreegans' grasp herself.

**33. Scrape**

Lich King Gryphonheart's undead armies swarmed over Erathia's borders, carving out graves in the ground as they went to wreck havoc on the ruined kingdom he once ruled.

**34. Trinket**

She had a necklace her father had given her for her sixteenth birthday; she wore it around her neck and felt her father's spirit was with her, even as she went to confront his undead being.

**35. Rowel**

The Necromancers would be crushes beneath the united Antagarich armies, or else they would die and Gryphonheart would create an undead paradise of endless torment throughout the world.

**36. Knit**

The day she left to march into Deyja, Catherine found a pair of Nicolai's woollen socks in the bottom of her supply bag – she couldn't help but laugh and weep at the gesture, though it had been almost four years since she had left Enroth.

**37. Laconic**

She had no words for her father's poisoner, the treacherous Lord Haart, save a single command – to follow her to Gryphonheart's Necropolis, survive the siege and face the king whom he killed.

**38. Experiment**

When Sandro was released from his prison, there was nothing he could do to save his brilliant hard work – Gryphonheart threatened to destroy all, even the Necromancers… so much for his magnum opus.

**39. Coin**

The Erathian reserves were low; if they did not complete their mission to force back the undead hordes within three months, Catherine would not be able to feed her armies.

**40. Peril**

During their long march to Deyja, Catherine kept a tight rein on Lord Haart – she did not want to risk any treachery he could commit, though part of her longed to run him through herself.

**41. Kinship**

Her father was dead – his reanimated corpse sat on the Deyjan throne and _would not_ recognise her as a daughter.

**42. Tact**

There were days when she wished she had never strayed into the life of a soldier; but then she remembered she was much better at navigating a battlefield than a social function – her words were far more blunt than her blade.

**43. Escort**

The night before the final siege, Catherine dreamed she had to pull Haart by a chain-link leash to the court of her undead father to receive judgement.

**44. Portent**

Thunder rumbled in the purple-black sky the morning Catherine led her army to the gates of the eerily silent necropolis.

**45. Phrase**

In Enroth, Nicolai stormed out of his music lesson, shouting that princes did not need music when their mothers could not hear them play.

**46. Commonplace**

In Steadwick, Morgan Kendal downed a bottle of wine, as so many men had done before him.

**47. Gunpowder**

In Eeoful, deep within the caverns of their temples, King Roland lifted his bloodied and scarred face to the sound of violent clashes and howls… something had happened to cause the Kreegans either deep misfortune or ecstatic glee or both.

**48. Rustle**

In Deyja, Gryphonheart sat silently on his throne, the madness fading from his empty eye sockets until he saw Lord Haart's face – then, he sprang, tearing at his murderer with skeletal fingers and plunging his sword into his beating heart.

**49. Wake**

With Haart's death, Gryphonheart was free from madness, but not from torment – Catherine spoke a prayer for her father as she shattered his undead remains, freeing his soul to paradise.

**50. Serenity**

The leaves were changing colour when Catherine rode into the royal castle's courtyard, battle-weary and drained – peace had been achieved at last, but there was still much to be done… but for now, she would rest.

_to be continued_


	2. Avatar for Armageddon

_There was a warrior among Catherine's armies who did not come to prominence until several years after the Restoration War. A decorated leader and commander of the Forest Guard, he was a skilled archer and renown trainer of sharpshooters. But he was destined for a fate far less ordinary than that of a simple soldier. Whether it was the will of providence or by his own path of action, his life is one we have good reason never to forget as he is the one who destroyed us. _

_The name of Gelu has become a curse for many decades since the Reckoning. I have strived to find the layers within the mystery, for certainly no man would willingly cause an apocalypse so dire an entire world was obliterated. But power is a cunning force – who can say that a man filled with good intentions would not willingly cause destruction if he found it within his own interests?_

_Perhaps fate singles out those of impossible parentage as the heroes of great and terrible deeds, for Gelu was a man born of two races and of a contradictory existence._

* * *

><p><strong>Avatar for Armageddon<strong>

**1. Search**

A child of two worlds without blood-parents or heritage, Gelu never felt like he truly belonged and was forever searching for a home.

**2. Brother**

Though not his blood-kin, many of the men he personally trained felt like family – or how he imagined family would be.

**3. Effluent**

Many considered him an oddity, and it wasn't just his bright red hair or his black eyes or his brown-streaked white skin – he moved with a grace and fluidity that was neither human nor elf, but his own.

**4. Road**

For as long as he could remember, he had the overwhelming need to prove himself – he swore never to take the easy path, but he never realised how prophetic that oath would become.

**5. Auspice**

Morgan Kendal had done his best – more than his best – and Gelu had to be thankful for the military education his foster father had given him… otherwise, he would not have survived.

**6. Stale**

He saw Gem many years later – long after the Angelic Alliance, long after the Restoration War, long after the Demon Wars – but she was not the light-hearted sorceress he had once known; but she claimed it was he who had changed, scarred by the tumultuous events in Eeoful, and it wasn't for the better.

**7. Fetter**

"You are only chained to this destiny if you so choose," Ciele had once told him, appearing and disappearing in a cloud of silvery mist, as if she had not been there at all.

**8. Trite**

"Come now, half-breed boy," Xeron called from the centre of the brazen battlefield, "don't you think your guerrilla attacks are becoming pathetically predictable?"

**9. Impala**

He was asleep when the demons came; his overwrought senses woke him and he leapt into the branches above in time to see them march below, their feet burning a blazing trail in the underbrush.

**10. Scrutiny**

When the Elementalists – particularly Ciele – began to invade his dreams on a more regular basis, he had to decide whether he had gone mad or if they truly did exist and had powers beyond anything he had ever witnessed.

**11. Hunter**

He had been a member of the Forest Guard when he slew his first demon – from then on, he had sworn to eradicate every one he encountered with an arrow through the throat.

**12. Prey**

AvLee was burning; the Kreegans pushed the border every day, threatening to turn the beautiful forests into a barren wasteland, as they had done to Eeoful.

**13. Rapture**

He saw her delicate Elven features reflected in every pool, every stream, every river – and somehow, he was comforted by her shadowy presence.

**14. Anathema**

When he first held Armageddon's Blade in his hands, the sheer power of the artefact nearly destroyed him – he beheld it with wonder, with joy, and with an utter loathing for the things it was capable of and the purpose for which it was forged.

**15. Host**

The first time he set foot inside a Conflux citadel, he was struck with awe that such a thing of primal magic could exist alongside such delicate beauty – he was not welcome, though the Elementalists did not seek to throw him from the gates.

**16. Befuddle**

His existence confused many – he was half-Vori elf, half-human, and no one – no king, no explorer, no scholar – could tell him where Vori was nor whether its elves had been seen on Antagarich shores.

**17. Faith**

He had once been a plain soldier, with the concerns of only himself and his fellows resting on his shoulders – now he carried the fates of every living being on the planet, and he couldn't even believe he was capable of eradicating the Kreegans.

**18. Flight**

He clung to the back of the pegasus, momentarily wondering why he hadn't taken the opportunity of training among these fast flying AvLee offence troops.

**19. Eden**

He was Erathian by upbringing, but he found solace in the forests of AvLee.

**20. Cathedral**

Kreelah stood tall and silent, red light glowing through the windows of the citadel, and Gelu found it eerie to be the only living person within its walls.

**21. Ascetic**

He could not say that he led a simple life, but he was frugal with his possessions and there was little owned he could do without – he was a ranger, nothing more.

**22. Cross**

"We will meet again, half-breed," Xeron sneered as he disappeared in a cloud of sulphuric smoke, teleporting away just as Gelu's sword thrust through the place the demon had previously occupied.

**23. Amulet**

The Pendant of Courage, while not an entirely rare, was a special artefact that could change the fate of battles – Ciele's voice had led him along a path and uncovered it at the base of a pool.

**24. Vessel**

Perhaps he had been fated to bring about the end of the world after saving it, but he was never given the time to reflect on the destruction his actions had caused.

**25. Possession**

The moment he wrested the Blade from Xeron's grasp, Gelu felt its immense power course through him – he was as much the Blade's tool as it was his.

**26. Heaven**

If there was a paradise beyond this world, he did not deserve to see it.

**27. Hell**

Eeoful was commonly seen as hell on earth by the rest of Antagarich, but when Gelu unleashed the fiery will and fury of the Blade on the Kreegan race, he truly witnessed hell.

**28. Angel**

He had fought in the Restoration Wars and been fatally wounded; had it not been for the power of an archangel, he would have died on the Steadwick battlefield and never lived to save the world – or destroy it.

**29. Demon**

"You are no more than I, half-breed," Xeron said, his absurdly human green eyes flashing, "a part-human with the blood of a better species, destined to give your life for the magic of a demonic blade to which your fate is eternally tied!"

**30. Covenant**

When the people of Erathia abandoned their cause, Gelu, Catherine and Roland swore an oath to each other that they would bring an end to this war or perish in the flames.

**31. Spawn**

Gelu did not wait for the Blade's magic to bring Xeron to fiery justice – he beheaded him on the spot, his anger and rage fuelling the flames-wreathed metal.

**32. Malediction**

He was cursed from that day onwards – he had brought forth Armageddon on Eeoful, and though the world had been spared, the unspeakable spell had been unleashed and fate would avenge itself… he could feel it.

**33. Provenance**

The more he aged, the less he thought of his origins – though he was hailed a hero, no parent could be proud of his accomplishments.

**34. Gap**

When the Confluxes disappeared, Gelu felt there was something missing – he had never known Ciele as more than an apparition, but her presence had been more real than he would like to admit.

**35. Sixes**

They came in groups of six – men and women seeking to lay eyes on the Devil's Bane, the Elven Hero who had saved the world from Lucifer Kreegan's mad desire to destroy it with fire and magic.

**36. Sevens**

In the end, he had done to the Kreegans exactly what their king had planned to do to the entire world – he had used the magic of Armageddon's Blade to destroy an entire race… did that make him the better person?

**37. Prayer**

Towards the end, he questioned whether gods existed – surely one would have stopped him by now, but even the Immortal Gavin Magnus (a god in all but name) did not raise a hand to smite him down.

**38. Unknown**

In his entire life, he had never known love – at first, he had been an oddity, then a devoted soldier, now an exalted enigma… not the kind of man a woman could love.

**39. Younger**

As a child he had practiced archery by seeing how many of Morgan's medals he could skewer to the target.

**40. Older**

As an adult he kept score of how many enemies he felled, a common – though slightly morbid – practice among sharpshooters.

**41. Cost**

Nothing was worth the cost of the Blade's existence, yet he could not bear to destroy it.

**42. Resolve**

Legends of a new magical weapon had risen – the Sword of Frost – and many were fighting to wield its power; knowing the cost the world could pay, Gelu would destroy the sword before anyone had that chance.

**43. Paradise**

If he closed his eyes, he could remember the landscape of a Conflux town – and that was paradise to him.

**44. Withdrawal**

Not long after the Demon Wars' conclusion, Gelu returned to Erathia in search of Morgan; he set the sword aside at his foster father's request, but afterwards swore never to do so again.

**45. Lure**

Xeron was the one slippery thorn in his side which he could not destroy; there was only one way to bring him out, to incite his anger, and so Gelu hunted the plains of Eeoful, tracking down the succubus who had borne the Demoniac into this world, and beheaded her.

**46. Reap**

Kreelah crumbled to dust behind him; if there were any benefits to gain from mass genocide, he would harvest them aplenty.

**47. Sown**

His fate was sown with sorrow the moment he chose to pursue the Sword of Frost, but he refused to listen to Tarnum's words or armies.

**48. Reckless**

He had always been stubborn to the point of disaster, and he continued to hunt the dangerous Sword despite the destructive rumours that spoke of an apocalypse should the Sword and Armageddon's Blade ever meet.

**49. Thrall**

Those who saw Gelu challenge Kilgore could not say whether or not either heroes were in control of their actions – both were enslaved by the toxic opposing magic in their blades.

**50. Supernatural**

The day of the Reckoning was the day Armageddon's Blade clashed with the Sword of Frost; it was the day of horror and fire; it was the day the hero who saved the world became the villain who destroyed it.

_to be continued_


	3. Maker of Sorrows

_Gelu's greatest enemy prior to the Krewlod King Kilgore was Lucifer Kreegan's own Lord High Commander, Xeron. The two shared more similarities than they would admit; posed at dire opposites of the same field, they came from impossible beginnings, trained to be masters of might, searched for the same magic, reached for the same object, became infused with the power of Armageddon. They were brothers in fate, if not brothers in blood – two half-breeds, sharing a human ancestry mixed with the blood of a "superior" race. _

_It was the human blood who made them who they were. _

_The half-demon son of a succubus, Xeron was Lucifer's Champion, just as Gelu was Catherine's. Without him, the Blade would not have existed. Xeron challenged the powers of the Confluxes, outstripped Gelu's own guerrilla forces, and completed the glorified quest to forge the sword. One could place the blame on Xeron for the destruction of the world, as without him, without his legacy, Gelu would not have had the means to unleash the apocalypse. _

_Would Xeron have applauded his brother's ultimate fate? Perhaps his demon side would have celebrated the oblivion, but his human side was what made him unpredictable – and stronger than the rest._

* * *

><p><strong>Maker of Sorrows<strong>

**1. Ancient**

The Kreegans were newcomers to Antagarich and few understood their ways – how, then, could the simple-minded humans ever understand their illustrious and ancient culture?

**2. Dictator**

When Lucifer seized the throne, Xeron was the first to follow him – otherwise, he would have been among the number of those whose living bodies were burnt to ash under the king's self-righteous power.

**3. Perpetuity**

As powerful and decorated as he became, Xeron was always made to feel like a lesser hero – he was the sawn of succubus and man, and the human blood in his veins was a stain on his dignity forever.

**4. Bondage**

The moment Xeron seized the sword from Khazandar's hands, he felt its surging magic and had to forcibly stop himself from unleashing its dangerous wrath right then and there.

**5. Ambition**

He had worked tirelessly to prove himself in the military ranks, killing those who needed to be disposed of, slyly twisting the views of commanders and generals, until he found himself in a position from which no one could unseat him.

**6. Pulpit**

Lucifer swore he had seen Xenofex in a dream, urging him to destroy the world with Armageddon's power – Xeron did not believe him, no matter how the king preached, knowing Lucifer was capable of creating such a plot perfectly well on his own.

**7. Deity**

They were gods among men, capable of withstanding and unleashing unstoppable magics – when this was over, those who survived would worship them on bended knee.

**8. Column**

Xeron rode at the head of his army, leading them deeper into AvLee's godforsaken forests, searching for the relics he needed to create the Blade.

**9. Bellum**

The cursed red-haired ranger fled through the land like a spirit, taking large chunks out of the sides of his army with maddening ease – Xeron swore he would find the man and kill him personally for the hindrance.

**10. Stigma**

"I trust you will not fail me, Xeron, or else I will have been misguided to trust a half-Kreegan with human blood in his veins," the king said as the smoke consumed him, teleporting him back to Kreelah.

**11. Corona**

Luminous flames wreathed the shining Blade with a destructive beauty that enchanted him.

**12. Herald**

The Confluxes appeared from nowhere, halting him in his search and pushing him back to Eeoful's border – though their presence encumbered him, their efforts also told him he was close to achieving his goal.

**13. Prodigious**

Should he succeed and the king's dream was made a reality, the whole world would be glorified in flame.

**14. Military**

The damned Erathians had heard of Lucifer's vision, and their campaign proved they would stop at nothing to prevent it from coming true.

**15. Campaign**

Catherine Ironfist, the hell-cursed daughter of Antagarich's greatest military leader, was persistent and thorough in her attack – Xeron would have loved a chance to face her in person.

**16. Olive**

The trees discomforted him; they blocked his line of vision and smelled disgusting – he wanted nothing more than to burn the entire forest to the ground.

**17. Soothsayer**

A demon seer in Kreelah once prophesized that Xeron would succeed only to have his victory cut from him by a man like him – he laughed and blasted her with fire for her insinuations… what man could possible compare to _him?_

**18. Ides**

Half a month had past and he was still no closer to achieving his goal; Lucifer was becoming impatient – he did not want to wait to unleash the apocalypse.

**19. Conspiracy**

The disgusting half-elf had taken the Blade from him and he had barely escaped with his life; despite Lucifer's raging displeasure, Xeron wondered if he would have been capable of handing over the relic to his master.

**20. Dissemble**

Xeron wore a spellbound disguise to make him appear human as he scouted his enemy's camp, seeking the face of the half-breed destined to destroy him.

**21. Senate**

Lucifer had advisors, of which Xeron was chief, but seldom were they asked for opinions – the king did as he pleased, and if his pleasure wished to end the world, so be it.

**22. Altar**

_Some sacrifices need to be made,_ Xeron thought as he sent a sizable army to Elven slaughter, giving him time to sneak through the back door while AvLee was occupied with the secondary force.

**23. Conquest**

Every land he conquered turned to a marvellous mosaic of ash, sulphur and flame in his wake.

**24. Expansion**

Three years before, the Necromancers had sought to claim the world and they had been defeated – it was now the Kreegans turn and hell would freeze before they bowed to the Ironfist might.

**25. Legion**

A flurry of arrows flew from all directions, felling many – Xeron cursed as he took cover, swearing to destroy every forest personally.

**26. Orator**

Despite the horns and the red bronzed skin, Xeron had a charming demeanour and a calm, deep voice – he could convince any person, regardless of race, of anything he wished, if he was given the time.

**27. Lithe**

He saw his enemy's lean face for the first time on the battlefield; the half-elf had a grace of movement that reminded Xeron uncomfortably of himself – it was the grace born from _human_ instincts.

**28. Imperator**

He had done his duty, he had ploughed countless enemies beneath his foot, burned away Elven archers by they hundreds, he was an unstoppable force – why, then, was he not king?

**29. Redress**

"The humans will lay siege to Kreelah," Lucifer hissed, his red eyes burning, "and you must re-claim the Blade from the half-Elven bastard – I know that he had the will to use its magic against us if provoked, so failure is _not an option."_

**30. Palter**

"We are one and the same, half-breed – can you not see the torment that binds our fates together?" Xeron shouted, taunting his enemy as he dodged the arrows the ranger fired at him from a distance.

**31. Rived**

When he heard his mother had been slain by the half-elf, Xeron's vengeance knew no bounds – his first action was to teleport Khazandar and his apprentice to Kreelah and had them torn asunder.

**32. Tributaries**

His vengeance would be exacted on the half-breed and all his Elven kindred – they would pay in flesh and blood.

**33. Colossus**

Xeron stood in the citadel hall, a red giant dwarfing his slender opponent, and raised the Blade to exact his revenge.

**34. Din**

When he first unleashed a small, controlled quantity of the Blade's magic in the courtyard, it broke the opposite wall asunder and deafened him.

**35. Smote**

They did private battle during the siege of Kreelah, striking at each other for each other's wrongdoings, anger buffeting forwards and backwards across the hall until the half-breed's luck bolstered his attack and he struck Xeron's legs out from under him with the Blade.

**36. Pact**

He swore an oath binding him to Lucifer – he was eternally bound to keep the Kreegan on the throne, or hellfire take him to his death.

**37. Tremulous**

He walked the scorched earth in a time of great change, an avatar for destruction and beauty.

**38. Forum**

As Lord High Commander of King Lucifer's armies, decisions were made between Xeron and the king without public opinion – the demon hordes would follow, however they decided.

**39. Opulence**

There was great beauty in how Kreelah – all gold, red and black, swirling with ash and circled with flame – was constructed, but their enemies would never appreciate it.

**40. Laurel**

He found an inconsistency in his Eeoful camp: a tree, stretching high, weaving through the choking black air to seek the sun, its green leaves lush and fresh, taunting him with its unorthodoxy… he cast a fireball at it and watched it explode and burn, a stormy expression on his face.

**41. Impetus**

Gelu was unstoppable, an Elven death force shot directly at the heart of Eeoful, bringing oblivion on the high wind – Xeron would meet him in the final battle and it was there their fates would be made.

**42. Arena**

Those who survived the half-breed's first attack drew back to watch as he stormed the citadel, Armageddon blazing in his hand, and found Xeron waiting for him – two great warriors, ready to battle for the world.

**43. Triumph**

When he slew the Elemental guardian, hacking and burning her body, he rejoiced as he took the final piece of Armageddon's puzzle for himself.

**44. Chariot**

When the Erathian army arrived, he raced across the burning plains, leaving his idiot companions in the dust as he searched for the king.

**45. Parthenon**

The temples of the Kreegans were no place to worship gods, but lairs to worship the great arts of pain, seduction and death.

**46. Avouch**

"I swear to you, half-breed," Xeron said as he looked one final time into the black eyes of his enemy, "if you wield that blade, you will wreck havoc on the world, no matter how _good_ you believe your intentions are – in that way, we are brothers of the Blade, kinsmen of blood and magic."

**47. Legacy**

Armageddon came to the Kreegans, but not how they expected – even after their race was wiped from Eeoful and the survivors fled Antagarich, legends of their warriors and their cultures continued to spread across the continents.

**48. Rise**

At the height of his power, Xeron was the most decorated and important figure in Kreegan history, an emblem of chaotic forces striving for a common goal.

**49. Fall**

He was felled, hacked from his pedestal by the greatest warrior in Antagarich, a man whom he had come to consider a brother by magic, a brother by human blood, the being he hated most in the world, yet was forced to appreciate – for Gelu now carried his legacy in the chaotic magic of the Blade he wielded.

**50. Empire**

Xeron would never live to see the apocalypse his enemy would one day cause, but his legacy would bring down even the greatest of warriors and kingdoms.

_to be continued_


	4. Iron King

_Xeron's legacy may have begun the Reckoning, and many perished that day. One of the greats was lost, alongside his wife, Catherine. Roland Ironfist had a celebrated history of victorious campaigns in his homeland of Enroth, beginning with the Succession Wars. He fought his own brother, the corrupted Necromancer Archibald, for control of their father's kingdom, eventually sealing his brother away in cursed stone. Ironfist was known as a benevolent and compassionate ruler and a brilliant tactician, though he abandoned his son and his country for a great span of time. _

_Tales of horror still spread from the mouths of the descendants of Enroth here in Axeoth. They are tales concerning the disappearance of their king, when the Kreegans arrived on earth in a shower of shooting stars. Their invasion was well-planned, and Ironfist sought to protect the world they sought to destroy. He was captured and held prisoner, subject to torture for years until rescued._

_There was no rest – he returned to Catherine, then in Erathia, but the royal couple could not leave Enroth, for Lucifer Kreegan had begun his quest for Armageddon's Blade. Perhaps Ironfist's actions and life has become legendary here in Axeoth, held aloft as one of the greatest kings who ever lived, but there are those who believe he was something much simpler – a man willing to do anything to protect the world he loved._

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><p><strong>Iron King<strong>

**1. Passing**

Sometimes Roland's life seemed like a series of nightmares – first, his murdering brother Archibald had haunted him, then the Kreegans had haunted him, then the destruction of Eeoful had haunted him – would there ever be a time when he was without the pain and sorrow of the past?

**2. Piercing**

The Kreegans had tortured him for years in their cells – at first, they had burned and cut him, his skin sparkling with tiny red lacerations, stretching his physical limits; then, they had tempted him with alluring women who looked like Catherine but were truly only succubi; then, they had entered his mind, worked their obscene magics, forced him to see horrors that were not there, feel pain that was not real… and never once did he break and speak a word of Enroth or those dearest to him.

**3. Peel**

Outwardly, he was a king and a warrior, but on the inside – a side his subjects could never see – he was screaming.

**4. Pair**

Catherine had been a suggestion, an arranged marriage made by her father not long after he ascended the Enrothian throne – Roland could not refuse the tactical advantage, but he had never realised how much he would come to love the brazen, proud woman who was his other half.

**5. Practical**

"If you want a griffin, Catherine, you can have a bloody griffin – I just don't think they are particularly suitable mounts, that's all!"

**6. Practice**

He had become king of Enroth solely to protect his father's people from Archibald's malevolence – when he ascended the throne, he knew everything about being a good commander, but found that his skills did not automatically translate to being a good king.

**7. Path**

Archibald had nearly killed him more than once before and during the Succession Wars; Roland could only wonder how he and his brother had taken such different walks in life when they were both the sons of a good man.

**8. Pale**

There was a full moon the night of his wedding and the night his son was born; ever since then the lunar brilliance held special meaning for him, though he knew he would never see the moon here in the dungeons of Eeoful.

**9. Pattern**

There was a pattern to Catherine's mood swings; at first, he had difficulty navigating and deciphering the difference between her anger from boredom, her anger from frustration, and her actual anger, but eventually he did figure it out and even found a solution – one that allowed her to visit Enrothian troops whenever she desired.

**10. Pose**

He was a skinny boy with stringy hair when he was young – many had never considered he would one day be king.

**11. Proclivity**

Roland loved the sea; when he was boy, he had searched out haunts along the beach, an activity he now sometimes indulged in for nostalgia's sake.

**12. Peer**

The succubus looked at him, her white teeth sparkling behind red-gold lips as she pulled him towards her, a split-image of Catherine save for her searing touch.

**13. Predicament**

King Gryphonheart had not chosen an heir when Catherine married and became Queen of Enroth, but after his death and the Restoration War, Roland suddenly found himself king of two countries since his rescue from the Kreegan lair.

**14. Pebble**

Nicolai's first gift to him was a smooth, shiny rock he had found when playing by the river – Roland kept it with him, even in his demonic prison.

**15. Power**

If he had Archibald's skills, if he had studied with the wizards or the warlocks, learned their lore and practiced magic, would he have been able to resist capture by the Kreegans?

**16. Peeve**

Catherine had left her battle armour in their chamber again, and it was beginning to smell.

**17. Perhaps**

As their marriage had been a political function, he had never officially proposed to her; so, one evening, long after their wedding, he got on one knee, took her hand and spoke the words no man had ever said to her – and Catherine howled with laughter.

**18. Pulse**

No cry of joy, no amount of tears could express the twin feelings in their hearts when he returned – broken, maimed, but alive – to her and felt her arms around him again.

**19. Potential**

The first time he met Gelu was at the conclusion of the Restoration Ear when Catherine awarded him with he Erathian Medal of Gallantry – he knew in that moment that the young ranger would go far, but no one could know how far.

**20. Palm**

The peculiarity about Catherine was how soft her hands were; he always expected her to be as coarse as her profession, but there were small details about her that caught him pleasantly off-guard.

**21. Pressure**

"I… have… no… words… _for you!" _he spat, ignoring the blinding pain and sending biting defiance towards his captor.

**22. Pest**

The Erathian War with Eeoful was his second campaign against the Kreegans; half of him prayed that he would not fall into their clutches again, while the other half seethed with a murderous desire to harm them as they had harmed him.

**23. Place**

When he finally boarded the ship to return to Enroth, he could not believe that after years of captivity and two devastating wars he would finally breathe the air of his homeland again.

**24. Paragon**

Roland could not believe in perfection, but even so he was glad to hear King Gryphonheart of Erathia held him in such high esteem.

**25. Pleasure**

When he held Catherine in his arms upon their return to Castle Ironfist, he almost felt healed.

**26. Picturesque**

Gryphonheart sent him a portrait of his daughter and Roland knew she was beautiful – what he didn't know was the amount of steel and stubbornness that came with her beauty.

**27. Pivotal**

"I had lost hope until they found you," Catherine murmured in his ear as they sat together on the steps of the still-ruined Steadwick Castle.

**28. Pick**

Open ship battles on the lake provided Roland with an interesting tactic – Kreegans particularly disliked becoming mounds of hissing, wet demon flesh when knocked overboard.

**29. Pungent**

Even when he had returned to Enroth, the fumes of Eeoful's destruction still seemed to follow him.

**30. Petty**

His first challenge had taught him a valued economic lesson later drawn on during the wars in Erathia – paltry nobles and self-indulgent warlords can always be bribed.

**31. Perceive**

He did not see Kreegans the way others did: to him, they were far more than demons – their malice and thirst for power were much close to human needs than others would admit – however, even if that made them more understandable, he would still willingly kill them.

**32. Prevention**

He had tried so desperately to stop the Succession War, but Archibald was relentless in his thirst for bloodshed – since then, Roland mistrusted familial relations, even as he loved his own.

**33. Plume**

Smoke rose from the barren wasteland that had previously been Kreelah as Gelu strode forward – alone and carrying the shimmering Armageddon's Blade.

**34. Prize**

Historians spoke of his victory over his brother as if it had been a contest and Enroth was the award – it aggravated him more than he could express.

**35. Plethora**

Though Gelu had cast the final spell which destroyed the Kreegans, Roland had killed his fair share of them – they all had the blood of a race on their hands for the final events of Kreelah.

**36. Predictable**

Roland's strategies suited him: he planned and organised well, taking one event at a time while consulting the broader image – unlike Gelu, who struck fast and hard and became impossible to target, but worked with such few numbers he could easily be overwhelmed.

**37. Peach**

Catherine tossed the fruit at him and he shook his head, wondering how the royal couple could get into a food fight, of all things – they were worse than children.

**38. Possibility**

There were times when he feared he had submitted to the succubus and his mind simply refused to remember – how else did half-demons such as Xeron come into existence?

**39. Prince**

He had been born royal, but he always questioned whether he was fit to rule; though some said such thoughts were a sign he was.

**40. Provoke**

In the later days of their marriage, he could have sworn his wife was leaving her armour out to annoy him – and so, he added his to the pile.

**41. Permanent**

As frightening as the nightmares were, they never left him, and they were as much a part of him now as his name and title – they made him who he was.

**42. Precocious**

Nicolai had been a curious child; Roland wishes he had spent more time with him before his capture, but now it was too late – his child had grown into adulthood without his father.

**43. Present**

Roland and Catherine were in the courtroom of Castle Ironfist when the earthquake shook down the walls and the sky burst with red and white – the world ended, and there was nothing they could do to prevent it.

**44. Pretend**

"We could pretend that the sky won't burst into flame, that Erathia will recover, that the Kreegans are merely figments of our childhood imaginations – but that will not change what Lucifer Kreegan plans to do with Armageddon's Blade."

**45. Preference**

Catherine once cut her hair short to make it more manageable in combat – once she became Queen of Enroth, he requested she grow it out again, and it stayed that way.

**46. Presence**

His wife had such a forceful presence that if she had been killed on her campaign to Eeoful, he would have felt her passing in the very nature of the world.

**47. Pique**

The glowing succubus smiled as she traced the contours of his face, casually slicing the skin and burning it closed.

**48. Precious**

The image of his son was one he would never forget – even if he died in Eeoful, he would at least have the knowledge that he tried to make the world a better place for Nicolai.

**49. Pendent**

The fate of the world depended on the small trio comprised of himself, Catherine and Gelu – it was nothing out of the ordinary, he reminded himself, it was just a mission, same as any other.

**50. Protector**

Roland Ironfist would do anything for his wife, his son and his country, no matter what the cost – and he would rather give up his title of king than surrender the capability of protecting those he loved.

_How differently our settlement in Axeoth would have been had Roland and Catherine escaped Enroth! But to wish is only to dream. There is much that has been lost to history, but there the hope of remembrances still remain. Myth and legends, while exaggerated to become larger than life, contain parts of the truth. Perhaps if we consider them, the times of Erathia and Enroth, the times of the Restoration and Armageddon's Blade, will not be forgotten. _

_fin_

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><p>Thanks for reading and reviewing! Any comments are, as always, very much appreciated.<em><br>_


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